Friendship and Distrust
by Skylark Starflower
Summary: Kaitlyn makes a new friend, but Clive doesn't trust him.


Authors note/Disclaimer: I don't own WA 3. It belongs to Media Vision/Sony.  
  
Well, not much to say about this, cept that I get the strangest ideas sometimes. ^_^  
  
"Friendship And Distrust"  
  
Written by Skylark Starflower  
  
Started December 17th, 2003  
  
Finished Feburary 7th, 2004  
  
The young girl giggled, peeking to the left and right. She found the coast clear and began to climb down the ladder into the dried up waterway. Kaitlyn's parents had forbade her from going down there, telling her it could be dangerous. She could never see just what was so dangerous about it, though. But no one was paying her any attention at the moment, so she took her chance to investigate.  
  
Tiptoeing, still giggling quietly as though everything were one big game, she made her way under the bridge. She wrinkled her nose, a terribly rank smell filling her nostrils. Looking around, she spotted a small opening barely large enough for an adult to walk though hunched over. The smell was emanating from within. Cocking her head quizzically, she walked over to it. Perhaps this was what her parents wanted to keep her away from?  
  
Curiosity getting the best of her, she climbed up into the opening and walked down the passage, noting that the smell was getting heavier. She judged from how far she had traveled that she would be about under the middle of town. She wondered who or what would want to live down here, thinking it would have to be terribly lonely.  
  
Suddenly, she stopped, her breath catching in her throat. A small lantern had been lit, illuminating the gloomy passage. But what stopped her cold was what had lit it.  
  
A green goblin looked up at her, his pointed teeth bared in what looked like a ferocious parody of a smile.   
  
"Don't be scared," he said. "I won't hurt you, gob-gob."  
  
Kaitlyn started to back away, but her foot caught on something and she stumbled. The goblin walked over to her, offering his hand to help her up. She looked up at him, fear radiating in her eyes, but took his hand. The goblin pulled her up, a look of concern on his face.  
  
"Are you okay, gob-gob?"  
  
The young girl nodded, her fear of this strange creature beginning to fade. He seemed nicer than the goblins her father had told her stories about. "I'm okay, Mr. Goblin."  
  
"Call me Uncle Gob, gob-gob." The goblin gave her another smile.  
  
Kaitlyn giggled. "You talk funny, Uncle Gob. Why do you live down here?"  
  
The goblin offered Kaitlyn a seat on a box as he took one, too. "Most people don't like goblins. When I go outside, people throw stones at me, gob-gob."  
  
"Why would they want to do that? They know you're a nice goblin, right?" Kaitlyn's question was completely innocent. She couldn't understand why anyone would dislike someone just because of what they were.  
  
Uncle Gob chuckled, a strange sound coming from a goblin. "It's a bit more difficult than that. But what brings a young girl like you down here anyway, gob-gob?"  
  
Kaitlyn scuffed her toe, looking suddenly ashamed. "I disobeyed my parents. They told me not to come down here, but I was curious."  
  
Uncle Gob shook his head. "You shouldn't do that. Your parents care about you, and worry about you. They don't want you to get hurt, gob-gob."  
  
"I know, but..." Kaitlyn smiled at the goblin. "I got to meet a new friend!" She jumped up from her seat and grabbed Uncle Gob's arm. "Come and meet my parents! I'm sure they'll like you!"  
  
Uncle Gob shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I have things to do. Maybe next time, gob-gob?"  
  
Kaitlyn nodded. "Okay! Bye!" With that, she ran off back down the passageway. Coming out at the bridge, she could here her father calling for her. He sounded worried. She ran over to the ladder and climbed up it, jogged up the short flight of stairs and stopped, casting her gaze about for her father. Spotting him where he was standing, under the single street light, she called out to him and waved.  
  
"Daddy!"  
  
"Kaitlyn, there you are!" Clive knelt down as his daughter ran into his arms and embraced her in a hug. "You should not dissapear like that. You had your mother and I worried."  
  
"I'm sorry, daddy," Kaitlyn said, digging her toe into the ground. She didn't say anything about her new friend just yet, a strange feeling of fear inside her telling her that that would be a bad idea at the time.  
  
Clive stood and gave her a fond pat on the head. "Do not do it again, okay?" He started to lead her back to the house, wrinkling his nose. "What is that smell?"  
  
Kaitlyn giggled quietly, but said nothing as she followed him.  
  
* * *  
  
Despite what her father told her, Kaitlyn continued to sneak away to visit Uncle Gob. In only a few short days, she'd grown quite fond of the goblin. Today she was bringing some paper and other drawing materials as she went to visit. She knew Uncle Gob liked maps, and she thought that he might like to draw some with her.  
  
"Hello, Uncle Gob! You home?" she called as she walked down the passage leading to his home. A light flared up ahead as the goblin lit a lantern. He smiled at the young girl and gestured to the items Kaitlyn was carrying with her.  
  
"What's that for, gob-gob?"  
  
She sat down at the makeshift table and spread the paper across it. "I thought maybe we could draw some maps of our own!" she said with a smile.  
  
Uncle Gob smiled back, and picked up a pencil. "That sounds like fun, gob-gob." Kaitlyn giggled and they started to draw.  
  
* * *  
  
Clive gave Catherine a worried glance. This was the third time in as many days that Kaitlyn had gone out to play, and completely disappeared. "Where could she be going, to disappear like this?"  
  
Catherine shrugged from where she was sitting on the couch. Her expression clearly showed how worried she was, as well. "I don't know. I think we should go out and look for her."  
  
Walking over to where his rifle was propped against a wall, Clive hefted the weapon and moved to the door. Catherine's look of worry intensified. "You don't actually think you'll need that, do you?"  
  
Clive sighed. "I hope not, but it is better to be safe than sorry, as they say. I will try not to be long." With that, he walked out the door.   
  
* * *  
  
Kaitlyn giggled as she labeled a continent on her map. Uncle Gob looked up from his own drawing to see what was so funny. He smiled. "Bobland, gob-gob?" he asked. Kaitlyn giggled again and nodded.  
  
He lifted his paper and showed it to Kaitlyn. She gasped in surprise. The goblin's map was almost a perfect reproduction of Filgaia. "You should draw maps professionally, Uncle Gob!"  
  
Uncle Gob didn't get a chance to reply when a loud clicking noise echoed through the small room. He and Kaitlyn looked up to see Clive, hunched in the tunnel, his ARM trained on the goblin.  
  
"Kaitlyn, get away from the goblin. Come here," he said, not lowering his weapon.  
  
Kaitlyn shook her little head. "No, daddy. He's my friend!" She stepped in front of Uncle Gob. Clive blinked, unsure of what to do now.  
  
"...okay, Kaitlyn. I will not hurt him, but you must come here."  
  
Uncle Gob gave Kaitlyn a nudge. "Go to your father, gob-gob." She gave him a sad look, hesitating for a moment before running over to her father. Good to his word, Clive lowered his ARM and lead his daughter out of the tunnel.  
  
"Is this where you have been going every day, Kaitlyn?" he asked as they walked back to the house. She nodded, looking cutely chagrined. "Kaitlyn, do you know what that thing is? That is a goblin, a monster. He is dangerous. I do not want you seeing that creature anymore, okay?"  
  
"But he's really nice, daddy. He's my friend!"  
  
Clive shook his head. "He may just be pretending to be nice to you to lure you into a false sense of security."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Clive paused. "...I do not know why, but that does not change the fact that that goblin could hurt you."  
  
"He wouldn't hurt me, daddy! He's my friend!" Kaitlyn insisted. Her father fixed her with a stern look as he opened the door to their house.  
  
"I want you to promise me you will not go to see him again."  
  
"Daddy!"  
  
"Promise me, Kaitlyn."  
  
She scowled at him. "Okay, daddy." With that, she ran off to her room, slamming the door behind her. Catherine looked up at her husband, a questioning look on her face.   
  
"What happened?"  
  
Clive sat down and told her about how their daughter had been sneaking out to see a monster. Catherine gave him a puzzled look. "Don't you know this goblin? Didn't you tell me about how he helped you and the others out when you were fighting the demons?"  
  
"I did not trust him then, and I still don't. I left him alone only because Virginia asked me to. But I do not like him ...playing with Kaitlyn. I cannot help but think that he'll do something to her."  
  
"What are you going to do?"  
  
Clive sighed. "I will leave him alone as long as he remains under the town. But if I see him above ground and he seems to be a threat, I will not hesitate to..." He trailed off, but Catherine didn't need to hear it to know what he was going to say.  
  
* * *  
  
Kaitlyn overheard every word her father said and tried not to gasp noticeably. She couldn't let her daddy hurt her friend. She didn't care what he said, he was wrong about Uncle Gob, and she would prove it to him somehow, someday.  
  
But for now, she resolved to warn her goblin friend of the danger he was in and try to convince him to leave town. With a glance out the window at the setting sun, she also decided to do it tomorrow, and began to get ready for bed.  
  
* * *  
  
The next day dawned bright and early. Catherine woke her daughter with a light shake on the shoulder, and led her out to the kitchen for breakfast with the family. She ate in silence as Catherine and Clive carried on a conversation. Virginia and the others were supposed to be coming over for a visit soon, and they were getting things prepared for their arrival.  
  
Kaitlyn finished her eggs as her parents continued a slight argument about small, unimportant details, and left the kitchen. She felt bad about what she was planning to do, but she couldn't let her new friend be hurt. Opening the front door silently, she slipped out of the house as Clive and Catherine continued to talk.  
  
She made her way to the bridge, climbed down the ladder and made her way down the tunnel. "Uncle Gob? Are you home? I've got something important to tell you!"  
  
The goblin shuffled out of a small hole in the wall. "I thought your father forbade you from coming to visit me, gob-gob?"  
  
Kaitlyn grabbed him by the arm and tried to pull him down the tunnel. She wasn't getting very far, the goblin was much heavier than her. "My daddy said he was going to kill you! You have to leave before he comes for you!"  
  
Uncle Gob patted her on the head, smiling, his teeth glinting in the dim light. "I'm sure you're overreacting, gob-gob."  
  
"No, no! He's really going to do it!" She continued to tug on his arm. The goblin gave her a look.  
  
"If I leave, where will I go, gob-gob?"  
  
Kaitlyn stopped to think about it. "...my daddy told me that there are unused mine shafts in Little Rock. You could stay there."  
  
Uncle Gob seemed to consider it. "But if your father sees me with you, he'll get upset again. You could get in trouble, gob-gob."  
  
"I don't care! I can't let my daddy hurt my friend!"  
  
The goblin gave into the small girl. "Okay, I'll go. But you're going to stay here with your parents, gob-gob."  
  
Kaitlyn nodded again and tugged on her friend's arm again. The goblin allowed himself to be led by the little girl. He blinked in the sunlight as they stepped out of the tunnel, the first time he'd been out in more than a few years. She led him up the ladder and out of town without a word.  
  
* * *  
  
It had taken Clive and Catherine a few minutes to realize that Kaitlyn was no longer in the house. Clive went to retrieve his ARM as Catherine gave him a look.  
  
"Do you think she went out to see him again?" she asked.  
  
"I do not know, but if he's done something to her..." With that, he swept out the door, rifle ready in hand.   
  
* * *  
  
"I think you should head back to your home now, Kaitlyn, gob-gob."  
  
Uncle Gob and Kaitlyn were already a ways away from Humphrey's Peak, and he didn't want the young girl to get hurt, or in trouble. He was already causing her enough just by being her friend.  
  
Kaitlyn nodded. "I think you're right. You can find Little Rock on your own now?"  
  
The goblin smiled at her again. "I'll be okay. I've seen enough maps, gob-gob."  
  
Kaitlyn smiled. "I hope I can see you again someday! Bye!" She turned around to leave, and came face to face with an angry looking cat like creature. She screamed and jumped back as it swiped at her. It's claws just caught her arm and she lost her balance and fell to the dusty ground.  
  
Uncle Gob turned and raised his axe to defend the girl, the Twin Tail coming in to attack again. With a quick blow, he had it on the run, but he didn't pursue it as he turned to Kaitlyn. "Are you okay, gob-gob?"  
  
Kaitlyn sniffled and held her arm, but she nodded. "I'm okay. But it gave me a scratch."  
  
The goblin knelt down and looked at it. "It's not bad, but we should probably bandage it with something, gob-gob."  
  
He was searching around for something to use when Clive finally located them. From where he was standing, all he could see was a goblin standing over his little girl, and she looked hurt. He didn't feel it necessary to investigate any further. His daughter was hurt, and the only monster in the area was Uncle Gob. To him, the situation was clear. He aimed his rifle and fired.  
  
Kaitlyn screamed again as Uncle Gob fell over. Her father rarely missed what he was aiming for. She looked up as Clive ran over to her, tears in her eyes. "Why'd you do that, daddy?" she sniffled.  
  
"He hurt you, didn't he?" Suddenly, Clive didn't feel quite so sure of himself, although he wasn't sure why. Uncle Gob was a monster, not to be trusted, right?  
  
Kaitlyn shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. "A kitty monster attacked us, and he defended me from it. He was going to bandage my scratch..."  
  
Clive didn't know what to say. He was beginning to think that he may have been wrong about Uncle Gob, but now it was too late to do anything about it.   
  
"...sorry."   
  
It was all he could think of to say.  
  
The End. 


End file.
